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The final in Corvallis was 65-38, in favor of Oregon. As long as USC beats UCLA next week, there will be no rematch between Oregon State and Penn State.

And, there was much rejoicing.

The only question now is, what will happen at the Rose Bowl if USC somehow earns a spot in the BCS championship game? Simple: The Rose Bowl likely will get the second pick among eligible at-large teams on selection day. If that's the case, I'd project the second choice out of the Big 12 — most likely Oklahoma or Texas — would be Penn State's opponent. But a lot would have to go wrong for it to be anybody besides USC at this point.

I'll try to follow this thing a bit for you guys tonight, but things are looking good for the "No PSU-OSU Rose Bowl" crowd. It's 17-7 Oregon early. The Beavers defense is having some trouble with the speed of Jeremiah Johnson, the Oregon running back. He just broke a big run that set the Ducks up to go ahead by 10.

Lyle Moevao starting at quarterback for the Beavers. Jacquizz Rodgers isn't playing. James Rodgers and Ryan McCants are carrying the load so far.

UPDATE, 8:04: Justin Kahut just pushed a 21-yard field goal wide right. Still 17-7 in the second quarter. Awful start for Oregon State, which desperately needed some points to cap what was a nice drive that stalled inside the Oregon 5.

UPDATE, 8:14: Oregon is just marching up and down the field on Oregon State right now. A pass interference call stalled a drive, but Ducks kicker Morgan Flint just hit a 22-yarder, so it's 20-7 Ducks right now. I can't believe this team beat USC.

UPDATE, 8:20: Defenses aren't even lining up outside the 20s. The Beavers had a first-and-10 from the Oregon 11 and couldn't find the end zone, though. A 24-yard field goal by Kahut cut the Oregon lead to 20-10. James Rodgers is a fast player off the edge, but he has no feel for running the ball. On second down, he got a handoff on a reverse and only needed to cut back to have a touchdown untouched. But he stretched the run too far, got tackled by the only Oregon player on the outside (safety Patrick Chung) for no gain, and cost the Beavers four points.

UPDATE, 8:33: If you like drives stalling inside the 10 and are a field-goal kicking fanatic, you'll love Oregon State-Oregon. Oregon has fist-and-goal at the Beavers 7, and Flint has to settle for a 25-yard field goal. Oregon isn't going to win this game kicking field goals, I promise you that. The Beavers are good enough, at home, to make a game of this very soon.

UPDATE, 8:43: Well, so much for Oregon State making a game of this soon. Jeremiah Johnson just broke an 83-yard touchdown run with 58 seconds to go in the first half. 30-10 Oregon. He ran through safety Al Afalava and Irv Pankey's kid…

And as I type, a Pick-6. A 40-yard interception return by Walter Thurmond. It's 37-10, Oregon. As long as USC beats UCLA next week, Penn State gets its much hoped-for chance to prove itself.

UPDATE, 9:37: I step out of the office for dinner, come back and realize that so has Oregon State. It's 37-24 now, as Moevao has hit Joe Halahuni with a 3-yard touchdown pass. Not over yet, my friends.

UPDATE, 9:52: Oregon State has 21 carries for 68 yards in the game so far. Not having Jacquizz Rodgers has been a huge factor. They can't keep Oregon off the field.

UPDATE, 9:54: This is an unbelievable game. Moevao just hit Shane Morales for the second time, this time for 10-yards to make it 44-31. There is 2:50 to go in the third quarter.

UPDATE, 10:05: With their backs to the wall, the Ducks just came up with an unbelievable play. On 3rd-and-6 at the 24, Masoli badly underthrew recevier Terence Scott. But Scott adjusted, made the catch and sprinted up the sideline for a 76-yard touchdown. So, it's 51-31. Oregon might need 60 to win, though.

UPDATE, 10:20: Congratulations to Notre Dame. It just picked up its first first down of the game against USC. On the final play of the third quarter.

UPDATE, 10:22: Moevao's fifth touchdown pass of the day, this one to Brady Camp, makes it 51-38 with more than 8 minutes to go. I was just about to call this for Oregon like they do on election night. But the Ducks just can't seem to put this one away.

OK, so there are two legitimately great teams in the SEC — maybe one, if either Alabama or Florida gets blown out of next week's SEC championship game. But even with their combined 23-1 record, the SEC's combined record will be 86-57 or 85-58. That means, the conference has won about 59 percent of its games.

Take Alabama and Florida out, and the SEC is a combined 66-56, at best.

Against teams from other BCS conferences, the SEC is 6-7. That's right. The SEC will need Vanderbilt to beat Wake Forest tonight just to get to .500.

Here's where the SEC teams ranked in the preseason AP Poll:

1. Georgia5. Florida7. LSU10. Auburn18. Tennessee24. Alabama

That's four Top 10 teams for a conference that right now, clearly, didn't deserve more than two. I'll buy Georgia in the top 20. But this conference, which received so much publicity for how great it is, probably only deserves to have three top-25 teams. Is that greatness? Hey, the the Big 12 deserves more than two teams in the Top 10 (Oklahoma, Texas, Texas Tech), and the Big Ten should get two (Penn State, Ohio State). So, how is the SEC automatically better than the Big Ten?

We'll see in the Capital One and Outback Bowls just how the conferences measure up against each other. But I'll say it right now: Don't you have to like some combination of Michigan State and Iowa over Georgia and Ole Miss?

I read about this on another site this morning, and Dennis Dodd of CBSSportsline.com blogged about it today. It seems that the Colley Matrix — which is the only one of the six computer rankings services that makes its ranking formula known to the public — revealed a bit of a boo-boo. It forgot to input two games — Idaho at Hawaii and UC-Davis at San Diego.

Now, before you ask the obvious question — Did this have any effect on the top of the standings? — let me answer it for you: No. Neither game will push Oklahoma ahead of Texas, or Penn State ahead of Texas Tech, or anything like that. But the Cal-Davis-San Diego game, once it was put into the system, did have a slight impact on the BCS averages. To make a long story short, no teams switched spots, but the numbers were changed.

Seems like a small story, and it is right now. But the fact of the matter is, one of the services relied on to determine who plays for the national championship and who plays in multi-million dollar bowl games and who doesn't, FORGOT TO INPUT GAMES! How can this happen? Even worse, it was Colley, and that's the only system that can even be somewhat monitored. What happens if the other five — who won't even release their formulas to the public — make a mistake? Would we even hear about it?

The long and short of it is that we now see mistakes can be made. This time, it didn't matter. Next time, it might.

The NCAA needs to do something — right now — to at least ensure the integrity of the BCS. It can start by making the formulas for those other five computer polls a matter of public record. There's absolutely zero reason not to.

First off, I want to wish all of you a Happy Thanksgiving while I have a chance. Because once turkey dinner gets served in about four hours, I make myself unavailable to anyone who doesn't have cranberry sauce to give me.

Heard one of my favorite quotes ever this afternoon on the CBS pregame show for the Tennessee-Detroit game. Went something like this:

JAMES BROWN: Do the Lions have a chance to become the NFL's first-ever 0-16 team?SHANNON SHARPE: Well, they have the talent.

Have fun watching some pro football today. Keep in mind, there are three Penn State players on the rosters of the six teams playing today — and there's one in each game: Tennessee QB Kerry Collins, Seattle WR Bobby Engram, Arizona OT Levi Brown.

Amazing, isn't it? Next time someone tells you that it's all about coaching or anything like that, please remember that it's about players. Period. Players. All three of those guys were huge winners at Penn State. Collins and Engram were on what might have been the best college offense ever. In turn, they're still playing football 14 years later. You have players, you're going to do extremely well in college football. The difference between Penn State in 1994 and Penn State in 2004? Kerry Collins and Bobby Engram are still playing in the NFL. Zach Mills and Gerald Smith were arena league players for a little while. It's about players.

Let's get right to 'em. Plenty has changed, of course, since we last discussed bowl games.

BCS #1

BCS CHAMPIONSHIP

BCS #2

Alabama

Oklahoma

Yeah, that's right. I'm the only person on the planet outside of Nick Saban and the state of Alabama that thinks the Crimson Tide will beat Florida for the SEC title and advance to the National Championship Game. I just think that, overall, this is as solid a team as there is in the country. It's well-coached, does the little things well and — best yet — hasn't been tripped up yet by Ole Miss. The way I figure it, it's going to be difficult to deny Oklahoma if it beats Oklahoma State on Saturday. That game is far from a guarantee, of course. But it will do wonders for the Sooners in the computer rankings, since all Texas has left is lowly Texas A&M.

At-Large #1

SUGAR BOWL

At-Large #4

Florida

Utah

Even with two losses, the Gators are a lock to be no worse than the first at-large team off the board. The question isn't what the Sugar Bowl will do with its first pick (the SEC championship game loser). It's whether it will take a BCS conference champion, or the unbeaten BCS buster out of the Mountain West. This isn't a very attractive matchup, but Utah is at least unbeaten, and it has whipped some nice competition this season (BYU, TCU, the artists formerly known as Michigan, etc.). Passing up a top-six team in the BCS standings would be impossible to do, just to get a team that might have more name recognition.

At-large #2

Fiesta Bowl

At-large #3

Texas

Ohio State

No questions here. The Fiesta Bowl chooses between either Texas or Texas Tech, and then realizes that the third pick is between Ohio State, Utah and Boise State. Conceivably, Utah can go here, but while it's one thing to take the Utes ahead of the Big East champion, it's another to take them ahead of a storied program. All in all, not a bad season for Ohio State, when you look at it. A massive loss early, a tough loss in the middle, and still, a co-championship in the Big Ten and a BCS berth at the end.

At-large #5

Orange Bowl

ACC Champion

Cincinnati

Georgia Tech

Clearly, I don't have any courage. Part of my thinks I should stick with Florida State as the eventual Big East champ, which I have been predicting for a few weeks now. But the Seminoles need Maryland to beat Boston College to get them to the title game, and I have no faith in Maryland. So, Georgia Tech gets my ACC berth — for no other reason than because it's better than Virginia Tech, which is the alternative. Cincy only needs to beat Syracuse this week, and it is in. Of course, Notre Dame couldn't do it…

Big Ten Champion

Rose Bowl

Pac-10 Champion

Penn State

Southern California

Lions are good to go. I think USC will be this weekend, with Jacquizz Rodgers not likely to play for Oregon State against Oregon. USC has to get by Notre Dame and UCLA, of course. But that's like getting by a dissipating fog.

Capital One BowlMichigan State vs. Georgia

The Spartans have something to prove now that they've been blasted by both of the big-name teams – Ohio State and Penn State — they've seen this season. A win would be huge for the Big Ten.

Outback BowlIowa vs. South Carolina

This is the first real debate pick for a bowl committee with a Big Ten tie-in. Northwestern can just as easily get this pick, but Iowa is playing better right now. The Hawkeyes' reward: A meeting with the Ol' Ball Coach.

Alamo BowlNorthwestern vs. Oklahoma State

Potentially a good matchup here for the surprising Wildcats, who get to test themselves presumably against either the Cowboys or Missouri. You don't take the next step until you've played tough competition.

Champs Sports BowlWisconsin vs. Miami

Interesting matchup of styles, but a disappointment for both teams.

Insight BowlMinnesota vs. Kansas

Good reward for the Gophers, who had quite a turnaround after a horrid 2007.

A final decision won't be made until later in the week, but it looks like the sprained shoulder Rodgers suffered last week against Arizona will rener him sidelined. Rodgers is the Pac-10's leading rusher, and Penn State fans know he's a big part of what that team does offensively. He had a lot of success against the Nittany Lions, when no other teammates really did.

It stinks for Rodgers. But Penn State fans, who want USC in the worst way, have to be ecstatic. It will be tough for Oregon State to win "The Civil War" without him.

As far as I know, DE Aaron Maybin is the first Penn State player to be named a finalist for one of college football's major awards. The Bednarik, of course, is awarded to the defensive player of the year.

It's going to be tough to knock off Maualuga, but Maybin has a better chance of winning this award than most people are going to think. Clearly, he has the least name recognition of the finalists, but he is tied for fourth in the nation in sacks. That's one of the impact numbers the voters will look at. Laurinaitis is 13th in total tackles, but he hasn't made the game-changing impact this season that he has in the past for that Ohio State defense. Maualuga has just 66 tackles, but he's got a great reputation.

Shipley was named Offensive Lineman of the Year by the coaches. The media named Joe Paterno the Coach of the Year.

With that out of the way, let's look a little deeper:

The No-Brainers

Clark

Williams

Shipley

Maybin

Bowman

Odrick

Kelly

These were the seven players I thought had to be first-teamers on both teams, and the coaches got it all right. How the media overlooked Odrick…I mean, I just don't know how you can miss what this guy has done if you're paying any attention. Of course, the simple answer to that is that some of my colleagues don't pay any attention at all. I don't know if he's Penn State's most valuable player, but Odrick might be the one playing the best right now.

The Pleasant Surprise

Ohrnberger

Big Rich is a pretty underrated player. Left guard isn't an easy position to play at Penn State, because you're asked to pull on some plays and usually have your own running back charging up your back on every play. But Ohrnberger has been a durable player, considering he has had to take on some of the biggest, toughest defensive tackles in the nation. Iowa's Mitch King was a unanimous first team choice, and a deserving one. Ohrnberger more than held his own against King.

The Can't Argue 'Em, But…

Cadogan

Scirrotto

Penn State got three offensive linemen on both first teams. I know the line was good, but was it that good? Add in the fact that Stefen Wisniewski earned second-team honors from the coaches, and I think you'll see my point: Daryll Clark too some big hits this season for a guy with four of the 10 best linemen in the conference in front of him. I can't argue against Cadogan, certainly. He had a great season. But I had Xavier Fulton a bit ahead of him.

At times this season, I thought Scirrotto played the best football of his career. But I'm not sure he made the biggest impact in the Penn State secondary.

Players Who Should Have Made It

Tony Davis

Mark Rubin

Josh Gaines

Look, Malcolm Jenkins and Vontae Davis are stud NFL prospects. But Tony Davis (below) was almost never mentioned this season. Why is that a good thing? Because it means his guy was always covered. He wasn't picking off passes. Wasn't making tackles. Because he rarely ever got challenged. He didn't even make the second-team, but Davis had a big season. He deserved a better push.

Same can be said for Rubin. He's a different kind of safety than Scirrotto, but Penn State's defense really seemed to take off when Rubin found his niche. He was as much linebacker as safety, as he could defend the run better than anybody in the secondary. He also made the biggest play in the win over Ohio State. Take him out of the mix, and Penn State's secondary would not have been as versatile.

I just like Gaines, and I liked him even more when I saw how the D-line just couldn't adjust when he went out with a sprained ankle in the fourth quarter against Iowa. He played a little tackle when he was asked. He picked up his pass rush right from the start of the season, without losing his overall solid play against the run. He was a more complete player for more of the season than Aaron Maybin was. Plus, he was a captain who led by the example he set with four years of getting to where he was through hard work. I certainly think he was better than Corey Wootton and Willie Van de Steeg.

Just my take on things, but I think Penn State deserved 10. But my 10 would have included a few different players.

Want bone-crunching hits and breathtaking plays? You've come to the wrong place. Want in depth analysis and breaking news on Penn State football and, occasionally, the rest of the sports world? That, we can help you with. Scranton Times-Tribune columnist and Penn State beat writer Donnie Collins promises to check in with all the breaking news and commentary on the Nittany Lions regularly. So drop by often, on game day or any day, to stay in the know.